SAVINGS of £30m a year by 2015 may have to be found in the spending on Cleveland Police.

That warning has been given by Councillor Dave McLuckie chairman of Cleveland Police Authority.

It comes in the wake of a high-powered report on the need to improve value for money in the country’s police service.

The joint report prepared by the Home Office sets out a range of measures which authorities and forces need to consider to meet a Government national target of delivering at least £545m in savings.

Cllr McLuckie says Cleveland is “ahead of the game in meeting the huge challenge of maintaining front-line services at the same time as resources are shrinking”.

He pointed to proposals being considered by the authority for involving a private sector partner in delivering back office services. That could save tens of millions of pounds over a 10 year period.

He said opportunities were also being looked at for civilianising some support roles currently undertaken by police officers to maintain front-line numbers.

Cllr McLuckie said: “The Government’s Policing White Paper made clear policing is in a new era where, if we are to maintain front-line services for the protection of the public, there needs to be, in the words of the joint report, ‘a fundamental examination of structures and processes’.

“I am pleased in Cleveland we have been committed to that kind of approach for a number of years and it has delivered results - for example the Private Finance Initiative project means we have some of the best facilities in the country, and the civilianising of custody and medical services which released more officers to the front-line.

“The report lays stress on the need to examine back-office support services, increase the efficiency of systems and processes and look for value for money in delivering information technology. All of that is already underway in Cleveland.”

He said the scale of the challenge should not be under-estimated.

“By 2015, in the worst possible case, we could have to find savings of up to £30m a year - that is a very substantial amount against our current total budget of £145m.

“Salary costs amount to 80% of our spending so the simple answer would be to cut jobs - perhaps in excess of 200.

“We don’t want to be forced down that line which is why we are now considering the development of a partnership for delivering back office services,” said Cllr McLuckie.